Search This Blog

Skills obtainable during an Internship abroad in the USA

When first embarking on your
career, those initial real-world work experiences are crucial to your
development as a professional. An internship
abroad is a unique and
impactful way to be introduced to the working world. The following are just a
few of the many skills that will mature and flourish during your international
internship.

1. Adaptability

Employers like
to hire professionals who are able to quickly adjust to workplace changes and
new challenges. Simply knowing that you once uprooted your life and took an
internship abroad shows you're someone who knows how to adapt to big changes -
inside and outside the office.

During an
internship abroad you'll have to adapt to a new country, new culture, new city
and new office, which requires a high level of adaptability and flexibility.
Once you've mastered that first shock and adjustment period during your
internship abroad, you'll be prepared for whatever professional or life changes
that come your way in the future.

2. Respect

Understanding
how to show respect to your employer and coworkers is a vital professional
skill and can be especially challenging while navigating a new culture. During
your internship abroad you will quickly realize each culture and employer have
their own standards on how to be respectful.

As a young
professional it’s important to be able to pick up on these cues quickly, to
show your employer you are an employee of value who also values their
colleagues. You'll have to be acutely aware of the ways respect is shown in an
international internship because it will be different from what you're used to.
Learning how to quickly read those cues and adapt is a professional skill you
can take to workplaces at home or abroad.

3. Cross-Cultural Interpersonal Abilities

Connecting with
people outside your native culture can be a challenge, particularly if there’s
a language barrier. However, cross-cultural bridges are crossed every day, many
times by those with experience living in a foreign culture.

While interning
abroad, young professionals will have the opportunity to learn how to befriend
and share with people from all over the world. Knowing what topics and
conversations are appropriate in an international community is a unique and
important skill that will boost your ability to network and build strong
professional connections around the world.

4. Communication Skills

Learning how to
get your point across in a foreign culture, particularly in a foreign language,
is a huge boost to an intern’s overall communication skills. Knowing how to
express yourself precisely and clearly is difficult to master in any culture or
language. Clearing that hurdle while in a foreign country will attune a young
professional to the importance of language and communication on another level.

Being abroad
also gives you the chance to improve observation and listening skills, which
are important elements of being a strong communicator. Being able to understand
how to effectively communicate in an international office will open up
opportunities as the world becomes increasingly globalized.

5. Multicultural Awareness

With international
integration on the rise, understanding and respecting varied world views,
customs and cultures is an increasingly important attribute. An internship
abroad will help you open up your perspective on the world, making you more
sensitive and attune to global issues.

It's important
to learn that your country isn’t the center of the world and that each country
has a way of doing things that is simply different, not necessarily better or
worse. It's hard to get to that place without having international experience.

6. Problem-Solving

The ability to
find creative solutions to problems is a crucial skill for a young professional
in any career. Experience abroad, not just at an internship, will give a young
person the chance to enhance their reasoning and problem-solving abilities.
Living abroad lands an intern constantly in unchartered territory, making
simple day-to-day tasks a bit of a challenge.

Whether lost
during a hunt for peanut butter in Medellín or confused by directions given to
you in Spanish by your internship supervisor, an intern abroad will have plenty
opportunities to solve problems and tackle new challenges.

7. Strength Through Adversity

Ask anyone who
has lived abroad. Moving to a new country can, at times, be brutal. When
there's so much new information coming at you, especially in a foreign
language, it can be a vulnerable, nerve-wracking experience. Figuring out how
to get around a new city, do well at your internship, speak a new language and
make international friends can feel like an impossible challenge.

But the
struggle is what will make the successes all the richer. As an intern abroad,
your tenacity will be put to the test and grow stronger over time. Then you'll
reap the rewards at your internship and beyond.